


a christmas love brewed in november

by softtofustew



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fluff and Humor, Jaehyungparkian, M/M, and me abusing the use of italics lololol, dumbfic honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21517705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softtofustew/pseuds/softtofustew
Summary: “do you have those balls?”“balls?”jae chews on his lower lip, and god, this could’ve been an entire flirtation if brian weren’t dressed up as an elf in clothes a size too small. this man is way too cute for his own good. “you know? those balls? i think my mum wants blue balls?”brian chokes on his saliva.“blue balls?”or the one where brian is an unenthusiastic gift shop worker and jae is a clueless customer. or the one where they're both young and dumb and kind of infatuated with each other.
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Comments: 12
Kudos: 147





	a christmas love brewed in november

**Author's Note:**

> key note: i do not remember how i came up with this dumb idea n managed to write it in two days.  
> another key note: brian in an elf costume

_ there’s more to life out there, brian. there’s more to life than college and your studies and your university application form.  _ those were probably the last few words brian heard from his mum before he got kicked out of the house at the end of summer earlier this year, with nothing but his textbooks for the school year and a duffel bag of his clothes. sweet. clearly, his mum hadn’t given him the memo that ‘more to life out there’ essentially meant working a part-time job to cover half his school fees, a ‘challenge his parents had set out for him’.

because, hey, maybe they’re right. maybe brian’s more than agitated about his B+ on his econs class for his finals last semester. maybe brian’s been more than a little cooped up in his bedroom studying his arse off, statistics notes in one hand, pillow in another (in case, y’know, he passed out halfway through tearing through his business textbook. which was, in fact, at least a once-in-a-day occurrence.) maybe brian’s parents are so sick of him not going out there and meeting real people that they decided, hey, give him a change in life.

fast forward to approximately two months later, it’s november, and brian’s counting stock of the number of nutcracker bobbleheads there are on the shelf of  _ goldie’s gifts ‘n goods shop _ . you see the problem here? It’s only november, and brian’s already counted fifty pristine wooden toys staring right back at him as he checks them off the list. 

sighing, brian drops the clipboard onto the counter with an unceremonious clatter. he ignores how sungjin winces at the noise. “yah, you’re on the job, brian ah. act like it.”

“act like it’s christmas eve and distributing candy canes to all the little kids here  _ when it’s not snowing outside _ ?” brian groans. “seriously, i don’t get the gist of putting up christmas trees in a store when it’s barely mid-november.”

sungjin raises an eyebrow at him. “it’s a business tactic. once a holiday is over, we stock up for the next. aren’t you a business major?” he quizzes. 

“yes,” brian says through gritted teeth. still, he sucks it up and swipes the wicker basket filled to the brim with candy canes and shuffles to the entrance of the shop. out of his eye, he can make out the corner of sungjin’s lips curling upwards. he makes a mental note to punch the guy’s arm later.

mustering up all the little dignity left in him, brian stands by the doorway, basket slung on his arm as he rings a golden bell.  _ goddammit, why couldn’t i have gotten a job as a waiter? a starbucks cashier? anything is better than  _ this _. _ “get your gifts at  _ goldie’s gifts ‘n goods shop _ ! all products at 10% off!”

his half-hearted promoting earns him glances from a pair of boys, who shuffle closer to the store. the brunette does a double take when he approaches the shop window. “holy shit, dowoon, they’ve got fucking  _ trees _ in here,” he gasps.

the raven black-haired boy, dowoon, glimpses at the window as well. his mouth hangs open. “but it’s november?”

brian suppresses an “exactly!” and instead offers the basket to the boys. “free candy canes?” 

“don’t mind if i do,” the brunette says gleefully, and in a blink of an eye, snatches up one of them. “want one, dowoon?”

“i’ll come back when it’s, like, christmas eve,” dowoon chuckles, smiling apologetically at brian while mouthing a ‘sorry’. his ears are a burning red. despite the letdown, brian’s grateful they don’t comment about the striped elf outfit he has on under his dingy apron.

“we’ll see you around!” he forces out a chirpy tone. as soon as the two boys walk away, brian wipes his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. he’s actually pretty nervous, because the last time someone from his college had swung by, brian was dressed in ghost costume, which really was just a white blanket draped over him with holes for his head and arms. he wonders whether his boss has hired a different designer team for the shop’s products yet.

now, though, this is really ridiculous. a pointy elf ear hair-band. a green and red striped shirt, and black slacks, down to the oversized green shoes with pointy tips. this really is a new low in brian’s “life out there” adventures. 

overhead, one end of the fairy lights taped across the entrance tumbles to the floor. brian casts a look at sungjin, who’s busy chatting away with a lady customer at the counter. from the looks of it, brian’s not going to catch his coworker’s attention anytime soon, unless he suddenly turns into a brunette girl with bright eyes and a giggly smile.  _ not happening anytime soon, _ he reminds himself, as he sets the basket down on a table nearby and makes a run to the storeroom for tape.

by the time he’s back, there’s a man lingering outside the windows, peering into the array of trees displayed on the shelf. brian decides to ignore the potential customer for a moment, and instead drags a stool over to the entrance. he hoists himself up, makes a grab for the fairy lights and tapes the end firmly on the doorway. he’s about to step off of the stool when a voice startles him.

“hey, sorry, do you have-” startled, brian yelps as he stumbles off of the stool, only to crash against the man, right into his arms. the man screeches too, but manages to steady brian in his outstretched arms. brian’s foot lands awkwardly on the linoleum floor, and he hisses in pain at the contact.

“holy shit, i’m so sorry,” the man apologises. he helps brian to his feet, as if he weighed nothing. brian steadies himself before looking up to lash at the man before him, but. 

the thing is, brian’s kind of… taken aback. the man before him has on probably the ugliest mustard yellow sweater to exist in this universe, teemed with maroon pants and shiny black shoes. his dusty brown hair is unkempt, falling past his eyebrows in a sort of endearing way. his silver-framed glasses are askew on the slope of his nose.

in short: brian’s fucked.

“no, no,” brian protests. “it’s my fault, i’m just super clumsy and everything, and you just happened to be there, and-”

“-dude, calm down,” the man says with a smile. when brian hears his blood surging faster through his veins, he curls his hand around the roll of tape to suppress the oncoming blush ghosting his neck. “okay, to be fair, it’s no one’s fault. you’re just doing your job, and i’m a fellow innocent customer, who just happened to accidentally scare the living daylights out of you.”

he grins, extending a hand. “jae. great to meet you.”

brian’s not entirely sure whether the customer service policies include having to shake the potential consumer’s hand, but he limply takes up jae’s hand anyways. “uh, brian. welcome to good’s goldies ‘n- i mean,  _ goldie’s goods ‘n gifts shop _ .” brian’s mouth is so, so dry, and he feels like his entire body is shrinking under jae’s steely gaze.

jae chuckles and pats brian’s shoulder. “nice. so i was looking at the storefront and you guys are stocked for christmas already, right?”   
_ yeah, no shit _ , brian wants to say, but then he realises that’s not the greatest impression he wants to have on jae, considering his failure of a first impression earlier. “yeah,” he replies as casually as he can. “christmas tree ornaments, gift wrapping, you name it, i’m pretty sure we have it.”

“great!” jae chirps. “do you have those… uh…” his voice trails off. he blinks at brian, as if internally searching for the word on his mind. 

“those…?” brian offers. he sets the tape down on the stool and clasps his hands together patiently.

“uh, i’m not sure what they’re called?” jae winces. “i’m actually buying them for my mum; she’s crazy about christmas and everything. er…” he makes a weird gesture with his hands, drawing a circle in the air. “do you have those balls?”   
“balls?”

jae chews on his lower lip, and god, this  _ could’ve _ been an entire flirtation if brian weren’t dressed up as an elf in clothes a size too small. this man is way too cute for his own good. “you know? those balls? i think my mum wants blue balls?”

brian chokes on his saliva. “ _ blue balls _ ?”

jae nods jerkily. “yeah.” it takes another moment for the man to realise what he just said. “oh, no, not  _ those _ blue balls,” he laughs awkwardly, scratching the nape of his neck. “the… the balls you hang on the tree.”

_ why didn’t you just fucking say so?! _ brian wants to scream, but he maintains his composure, smooths down his apron down and forces on what he hopes is a dazzling smile. “you mean baubles.”

jae claps his hands together, grinning wide. “yeah! yeah, that’s what they are. i made a visit to my mum’s and that was the first thing she asked me to get for her. exactly. wow, you’re like a mind-reader.”

“i’m just your fairly local shop worker,” brian chuckles dryly, before turning on his heel and striding down a narrow aisle. the shelves are pushed close together, jam-packed with all kinds of goods, from ceramic mugs and glimmering snow globes to deformed baby ornaments and hundreds of gift wrapper designs. brian doesn’t realise how tall jae is until he turns around to see him practically face-to-face with the top of the shelves (the other shop workers are kinda vertically challenged, and the ceiling is considerably low for someone who’s six feet tall).

jae ooh’s and aah’s at a few products along the way. “this place is pretty cool,” he comments lightly, brushing a finger along the wooden shelves. “so, where’re the balls?”

“baubles,” brian corrects, sighing inwardly. he gestures to the few cardboard boxes lying on the floor, still unpacked because sungjin will not stop flirting with the lady a few metres ahead of them. “blue ones are over here. there’s a few silver and gold ones, too.”

“that’s great,” jae replies. he crouches down to inspect the boxes. underneath the faded grey tee he has on, brian can make out the milky skin of the back of his neck, swooping down to a smooth back. he averts his gaze when he feels heat prickling his cheeks.  _ stop it, goddammit, this is your  _ customer, he mentally chastises himself.

_ a hot one, too, _ the other side of him decides to butt in. 

“um,” jae peers up to look at a flustered brian. he scratches the back of his head. “do you mind if i could just buy this whole box? my mum wanted a lot of them because we’re, uh, helping to set the trees up in the old folks’ home close by.”

adorable, good-looking,  _ and _ a samaritan? this guy must be an angel descended from heaven. “i think it should be fine. we’ve got some more stock coming in tomorrow,” brian answers. jae grins, stands to his feet and slaps brian’s back in a friendly gesture. the warmth of his hand lingers a little longer than it should against his skin.

“that’s great. i’ll just lug this to the counter.”

jae’s about to bend down and haul it up when brian remembers that  _ he’s _ the worker, not this man before him. “oh, no, i’ll get that done myself. you can go ahead to the counter.”

“no, dude, i insist-” jae’s cut off by how quickly brian darts down and swoops the box off of the floors. sighing, jae steps forward and holds the other side of the box. facing directly opposite of brian, jae shoots him an easy grin. “please, i’m not as weak as i look. i caught you from your fall.”

brian places a knee under the box to steady his grip on the cardboard box. “dude, really, i’m the kid working here, anyways.”

“but still-”

“-and you’re the customer-”

“-yeah, but-”

before either of them can finish talking, the bottom of the box suddenly gives out. both of them shriek like a pair of banshees as dozens of blue baubles bounce onto the floor. the tinkling noises are followed by a few crashes as some of the ornaments explode into several pieces. brian makes a mental note to punch sungjin  _ again _ later for blindly taping up the cardboard boxes.  _ for fuck’s sake. _

“oh, shit.” jae blinks. they’re now holding onto the broken cardboard box. after a moment, both of them dump the box aside and simply stare down at the mess on the floor. a few baubles roll around before coming to a stop before their feet. “i don’t have to pay for this, do i?”

❆ ❆ ❆

the next day, brian stifles a yawn as he walks into the store for his afternoon shift. just before he walks through the doorway, he pauses short in front of sungjin, with his arms crossed over his chest.   
“there’s boxes of baubles in the back storeroom; is your guy coming over today to get them?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

brian rolls his eyes. “he’s not ‘my guy’, just a customer who couldn’t buy his baubles because  _ someone _ didn’t tape the box properly.”

“not  _ my _ fault that the tape was weak,” sungjin grunts, but the ghost of a smirk still lingers on his lips. “and are you sure he’s not ‘your guy’? you seemed very taken by him yesterday.”

brian clocks in silently, allowing silence to envelope over them, but sungjin’s having none of it. “and i also saw a certain  _ someone _ catch you from your gracious fall yesterday,” sungjin chuckles.

“he just happened to be there,” brian protests weakly. was he really that obvious yesterday? “was i that obvious?”

“yeah,” sungjin chortles. “your eyes were heart-shaped and everything. just suck it up and ask him out already, bro.”

“what about the girl you were flirting with yesterday?” brian shoots back, eager to embarrass the other. “how did that go?”   
“oh,” sungjin laughs awkwardly. the tips of his ears flush crimson red. “she’s, ah, not into dudes.”

at this, brian bursts out laughing, just as the bells overhead the entrance tinkle lightly. he’s still doubled over, hands on his knees and laughing like a mad man when he hears someone clearing their throat. “uh, brian?”

stunned, brian scrambles to his feet and ends up face-to-face with an amused jae. today, lo and behold, ugly mustard sweater gone - he looks like he’s come from work or something, dressed in a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. brian hopes his adam’s apple doesn’t give away how hard he swallows down his nerves. “hey, jae. nice to see you. again.”

he wants to slap himself when he hears sungjin smother his giggles behind a fake cough. “i’ll be in the costume section if you need me,” sungjin announces. he promptly turns and walks off, leaving the shop worker and the customer alone in front of the entrance.

“you mentioned the baubles would be restocked today?” jae says hopefully.

“yeah,” brian nods. “yeah, they’re just out back. give me a moment.”

brian dashes to the back storeroom and prays with all his might that this box won’t give way. he hauls the box up in his arms with a loud grunt. his arms immediately ache under the weight of the dozens of shiny blue baubles winking up at him, as if taunting him further. thankfully, the box remains intact by the time he sets the box down on the counter.

jae whistles lowly. “sweet. how much for them all?”

“forty-five dollars,” brian replies. he takes up the money with visibly shaky hands and punches in the numbers clumsily. sungjin’s words repeat themselves over and over again in brian’s mind.  _ just suck it up and ask him out already, bro.  _

the machine whirs, and as the receipt begins sputtering out, brian turns to look at jae. “jae.”

he says it with such vigour that he seems to have surprised jae, who glimpses up from the baubles with widened eyes. “uh, yeah?”   
“would you…” his voice trails off, unsure of what to say. actually, what  _ is _ he supposed to say?  _ wanna go out with me _ ? too straightforward.  _ so i heard the latest star wars movie is coming up? _ what if he doesn’t like star wars? (though if he doesn’t, brian might instantly break off their friendship. that is, if they’re friends already.  _ are _ they?) wait… how old is this guy, anyways? what if he actually  _ is _ working already? holy shit, what if he’s a college dropout? his parents would be furious if he dated a college dropo-

“earth to brian?” jae presses, waving a hand dismissively over brian’s face. “you kinda zoned out.”

“oh,” brian blurts out. He hurriedly snatches up the receipt and hands it to jae. “here’s your receipt.”

jae nods, and lingers there with an expectant look on his face. “and you were saying…?”   
“oh, right!” brian chuckles nervously. he clasps his hands where they rest on the counter and rocks his weight back and forth on his heels. his brain racks for a coherent sentence, but words have suddenly decided to fail on him. “um… you see here…”

“okay,” jae nods. “i see someone good-looking before me who clearly wants to tell me something,” he begins.

dumbfounded, brian’s breath hitches in his throat. “you mean sungjin.”

“who’s that?” jae asks. the grin never seems to fade from his lips, and now that brian’s really close to him, he can make out the curve of his upper lip, down to his full bottom one.  _ not the right time, hormones. _ “i only see one person in front of me.”

the shop worker feels himself begin to vibrate. like, literally vibrate; his fingers are twitching like mad, and he clenches his fists tighter together until his knuckles whiten. “oh.”

“and,” jae adds, his grin widening, “if he’s not going to say anything, i’ll say it for him.” he places a hand over brian’s. brian admires how wide his palm is, how long and delicate his fingers are over his meatier hands. “i know we kinda got off on a weird start, with the talk about balls and everything, but i’d really like to get to know you better, bri.”

the nickname sends his heart fluttering madly against his chest. “mhm,” he hums, lips pressed together. he so does not trust his voice right now.

“and i hope you feel the same way back? otherwise, i’m just being delusional right now,” jae chuckles. 

brian nods again. seems like that’s the only thing he can do right now. “yeah, totally,” he breathes.

“that’s great.” jae retrieves one of the name cards on the counter, takes up a pen from his shirt pocket and scribbles something on the back of the card. he hands it over to brian with a smile, before leaning forward, and- brian feels his brain short circuit when he feels a warm kiss pressed against the side of his face. his heart practically explodes in his chest. “that’s my number. i’m kind of a busy university kid, but i should be available on fridays and sundays. y’know, for dates or something along those lines.”

when he steps back, brian spits and splutters, like a machine kicked back to life. “sure! yes! totally.” he blinks several times, just to make sure jae’s not some sort of dream his mind has concocted up for him. “yeah, that sounds great.”

jae nods before hauling the box up from the counter with such ease. (how does he do that? maybe jae should just take up his job here, not like brian will miss it or whatever.) “i’ll see you around, bri. don’t forget to text first.”

he shoots him a wink, before turning on his heel and trudging off. starstruck, lovestruck, everything-struck brian stands behind the counter, rooted to the spot as he swoons at the sight of the man leaving the store, the muscles in his back shifting under the white shirt. he cups his chin with his hand, supported by his elbow, and grins sappily all the while jae disappears round a corner.

sungjin creeps up behind brian and slaps a hand on his back. “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”   
brian nods, head still in the clouds. “he’s so dreamy.”

“you’re lucky,” sungjin sniffs. “at least he was actually interested in you. i can’t believe i talked to that girl yesterday about cow’s tongue and having a mukbang date with her and she kept looking at me like she was actually straight!”

brian doesn’t get up from where he stands, though, until sungjin grabs him by the collar and drags his whining ass to the back of the store to help count stock (again! seriously, can he quit this job now?) 

(but then again, this job  _ did _ give him the chance to meet jae and talk to him about blue balls. maybe this job deserves a few rights, even though it’s stocked for christmas in the midst of a fall november.) 

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/sideofstew) // [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/softtofustew) // [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/softtofustew)


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